A Workout Routine for the Elliptical & Treadmill for Fast Weight Loss

The treadmill and elliptical machines are the two most common aerobic machines at the gym. Both of them help you tone your glutes, legs and core while burning calories. The treadmill burns more calories than the elliptical but it is a more impactful workout, which can make it difficult for some people to work out as long. Select the machine that best suits your fitness needs.

The treadmill and elliptical machines both help you burn calories, which over time can lead to weight loss. To lose weight, aim to burn off more calories than you take in. Do this through exercise, a reduced-calorie diet or a combination of the two. The best type of cardio for weight loss is the one that you will do with the most consistency. According to WebMD, to lose weight you need to do about an hour a day of moderate exercise.

A treadmill burns more calories than the elliptical machine, but it does so in a more jarring fashion. As you run, your joints experience impact forces that are 3.7 times your weight compared to when you are walking, so pace yourself and don’t do too much, too soon. “Men’s Health” designed a fast, fun and highly effective fat-blasting workout to have you shedding pounds. Begin with a brisk walk for two minutes and then lightly increase the speed to a jogging pace that you think you could maintain for 20 minutes, but only jog for two minutes. After the two minutes, keep the pace the same but increase the incline by 1 percent every 30 seconds. Continue this until you can no longer maintain the same pace with the elevation, then reduce the incline to 0 percent for two minutes followed by a two-minute light jog.

On the elliptical machine, your lower body mimics the running motion but in a lower-impact way because you do not lift your legs up and down. “Shape” magazine designed a versatile elliptical workout that varies nearly every five minutes to work out your entire body and burn calories. A 145-pound person can burn 300 calories doing this 30-minute workout. Begin with a five-minute warm-up at a resistance level 4 and incline 3. For the next five minutes, lower the incline to level 1 but increase the resistance to level 6. Then increase the incline and resistance to level 7 for five minutes. Increase the incline to level 10 and the resistance to level 8 for another five minutes. Keep the intensity building by increasing the incline to level 15 but lower the resistance to level 7 for five minutes. For the last hard push, increase the incline to level 20 and the resistance 10 for two minutes. End the workout with a three-minute cool-down at incline level 3 and resistance level 4.

To keep boredom at bay and the calories burning, try a combination treadmill and elliptical workout that has you switching up machines in the middle of the workout. Start on the treadmill and do a five-minute walking warm-up at an easy pace. Next, increase the pace to a jog for two minutes and then step it up even more to a run for one minute. Slow back down to a jog and repeat this fast-slow interval until you reach 14 minutes, then slow it down to a walk and recover for a minute before moving over to the elliptical. Start the elliptical at a moderate intensity and go for three minutes. Next, increase to a vigorous intensity for two minutes. Switch back down to moderate and repeat this easy-hard interval until you hit 25 minutes, then move back to the treadmill. Begin with a brisk walk for two minutes and then run for two minutes. Repeat this walk-run until you hit 35 minutes, then slow down to a cool-down walk for five minutes.